


Shattered Like Glass

by OhNoMyBreadsticks



Series: Bready writes for friends [15]
Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Broken Bones, Cahir (Witcher) Whump, Car Accidents, Established Relationship, Fear of Death, Happy Ending, Hospitalization, M/M, Multi, No Gore, No blood or graphic descriptions of injuries, Polyamory, Sad with a Happy Ending, Serious Injuries, Vomiting, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:40:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28792581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhNoMyBreadsticks/pseuds/OhNoMyBreadsticks
Summary: It's just a regular Wednesday afternoon, but Cahir's about to find out just how badly a regular afternoon can go.
Relationships: Aiden/Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach/Eskel/Lambert
Series: Bready writes for friends [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1563877
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	Shattered Like Glass

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jaskiersvalley (connorssock)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/connorssock/gifts).



> This fic is for the ever lovely Socks, who asked for Cahir car crash whump with a happy poly ending! I am so lucky to call Socks my friend, because they are not only an incredible writer and inspiration partner, but also just a really really kind person who brightens my days. I hope you enjoy this little treat <3
> 
> **Warning: There are no graphic or specific descriptions of injuries (no blood, gore, etc), but the pain is discussed in great detail and it's made clear that the injuries are severe. The ending is happy though, no death or abandonment here!**

It was a Wednesday afternoon when Cahir’s world shattered into pieces. It wasn’t even a particularly bad Wednesday, in the grand scheme of things. He was driving back to work from his favorite lunch spot, car radio playing some sort of muted pop music that was only halfway registering in his brain. He was too busy thinking about the date he had tonight with his boyfriends to listen anyways. Who needed pop songs about love when you had the real thing, right? They had been dating now for a few months and things were going...well, Cahir didn’t want to jinx things, but they were going really well.

He didn’t even see the other car coming as he drove through the intersection, the green light ahead of him lulling him into a false sense of security. There’s a moment where he sees the movement out of the corner of his eye, and then everything shatters into a million shards of sensation. The world spins - or does the car spin? - the glass shatters - there’s the sound of someone screaming - or is it metal scraping along the pavement? - and his seatbelt cuts into his neck so hard he’s sure his head will come off.

And then.

Silence.

Or is it just the absence of all that sound? Cahir can’t tell, because all he can focus on now is how much  _ pain _ one human body can feel at one time. It’s like his body is on fire, or maybe his brain, because he definitely hit his head during all of this. His vision is swimming so badly he can’t tell if the world is upside down, his car is upside down, or maybe he’s just sinking into the ground like a corpse. It certainly  _ feels _ like he’s dying, because he can barely breathe without pain shooting all the way through his ribcage. He gasps in breaths anyways, like that’s going to help him muster up the ability to call for help. Like his throat doesn’t already burn from screaming (the screaming must have been him, because otherwise why does his mouth taste like blood?).

The world focuses slowly, and Cahir realizes just as slowly that the world is upside down because his car is, and he’s hanging from his seat by the seat belt. He tries to move his arm to unbuckle himself, and that’s probably the worst decision he’s made in the past few minutes because it sends pain  _ shooting _ up his arm, sharp enough to take his breath away and make his stomach churn. He whimpers through the waves of it, squeezing his eyes shut and feeling hot tears begin to trickle out. Everything else feels icy cold in comparison, but cold is better than pain at least. 

Cahir tries the other arm next, because something in the back of his mind is telling him he can’t stay in this car, and that arm moves without making him want to vomit at least. He hears the clink and clatter of glass shards being shifted as he slowly drags his arm closer, but any scrapes or cuts he’s getting now barely register compared to the rest of the pain. It’s taking every ounce of his willpower to move just that one arm, but he has to. He has to get out, he has to escape. Not even thinking of the fact that he hasn’t even tried to move his legs, that he can’t crawl with one arm that’s probably shattered worse than his windshield. The buckle miraculously clicks, the belt unspools, and-

-catches on his broken arm as gravity pulls him down.

This time Cahir does vomit, the pain so overwhelming that his body can’t process it in any other way. His vision starts to blur again, and no matter how much he fights it, he can’t stop from passing out.

The next time he blinks back into reality is as he’s being pulled from the wreck, and the sudden assault of lights and sounds makes him cry out in fear. He tries not to struggle as he’s lifted onto the stretcher but he’s flinching away from every touch despite himself. The pain is just too much, even as the first responders do their best to minimize the jostling and get a read on his vitals. There’s shouting, and the siren is blaring, and everyone seems to be  _ rushing _ , like something terrible might happen if they don’t. As he’s loaded into the ambulance, Cahir realizes for the first time that maybe the terrible thing that might happen is him dying.

He starts to cry again, because he doesn’t want to die, not now, not when he finally has someone to come home to. His boyfriends won’t even know why he isn’t coming to date night, and that rips a proper sob out of his chest, one that makes all the bruised muscles around his ribs ache. What if they think he’s ditched them? That he’s got cold feet and doesn’t want to intrude any longer on the happy little life those three have built. After all, Lambert, Eskel, and Aiden were happy before they met him. He’s sure they’ll be happy without him.

But Cahir doesn’t know if he can make it without them at this point - he’s given them too much of his heart. Maybe that’s why his chest hurts so badly. He wishes they were here with him, that it was Eskel’s gentle voice murmuring encouragement, Lambert and Aiden’s hands holding his and squeezing, instead of the grating voices and touches of the EMTs. But his phone is probably pulverized along with the rest of his car, and even if they somehow got the call there’s no way they would want to spend date night at the hospital. Cahir is very much alone, and he knows he’ll be alone when he wakes up next.

The next few times he makes it to consciousness, Cahir is indeed alone. Well, surrounded by rushing doctors and nurses, but alone in all the ways that matter. He sees them pass in a blur but barely registers them. Everything feels...distant. Like his mind is behind a wall and his body is on the other side. It’s better than the pain, certainly, but it’s scary in a different way. He isn’t sure if he could move now even if he tried. His eyelids close on their own, and he slips away, into a deeper, darker space. 

Time passes, or maybe it doesn’t. 

When Cahir opens his eyes, it’s still dark. He stares up at the ceiling and breathes because it’s something he can manage right now. He’s alone in a room filled with machines that are humming and beeping, but he can feel his limbs again. That means his arm aches again, so the joy of being able to feel is cut somewhat short. There’s an odd pressure on his ‘good’ hand, the one that doesn’t feel like it’s full of pins, and he musters all of his energy to slide his gaze down to see what’s pressing on his fingers. It feels warm and oddly familiar, but maybe his brain got scrambled in his skull when the car rolled. 

His breath catches awkwardly in his throat as he sees his hand cradled in both of Lambert’s, his boyfriend sitting slumped in a chair next to him. As Cahir tries to process the sight in front of him, the shadowy shapes in the corner of the room come to life, Aiden gently nudging Eskel awake and murmuring something under his breath. They both get to their feet and shuffle over to the edge of Cahir’s bed, Eskel bumping Lambert with his hip. He wakes with a start, eyes snapping wide open and hand tightening its grip on Cahir. 

“Sweetheart?” Lambert asks, voice low and full of concern, and Cahir feels tears start to tumble down his cheeks for the third time today, his emotions experiencing just as much whiplash as his body had this afternoon.

“You’re here…” He murmurs, and the voice that comes out of his throat barely sounds like his own. This whole scene barely feels real though, because there’s no way he’s so lucky.

“Of course we’re here. We came as soon as we could.” Eskel says, and Aiden chimes in to explain “When you didn’t show up and we couldn’t reach your phone, we called your work and they told us you’d been taken to the emergency room. You gave us a good scare” There’s fear behind those words, real fear, but they all know this isn’t the right time to talk about it. 

Lambert reaches up with his free hand and wipes the tears off Cahir’s cheeks with gentle fingers. “And before you ask, we’re not going anywhere.” He says, because of course he does. Lambert’s smarter than anyone (well, okay, anyone outside of the people in this room) gives him credit for, and he can hear the self-deprecating gears churning in Cahir’s head. “One of us will be here every night until we can bring you home with us.”

Of course that makes Cahir cry harder, which makes his chest hurt. But it does also have Eskel shuffling around the bed to kiss the top of his head, and Cahir reaching out to set a gentle hand on his good shoulder, so really it’s not a bad thing. It’s hard to focus on how bad things are when he has his three most important people surrounding him and showing just how much they care about him. It’s going to be a rotten road to recovery, and he’s going to be miserable on and off for a while, Cahir is sure of that. 

But he thinks he’ll be more than alright, because he doesn’t have to do it alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I had way too much fun with this whump and it got longer than I had planned XD Well, shorter I guess, because I had a whole recovery at home scene planned lol! But maybe that can be written at a later date ;)
> 
> Any kudos or comments at any time are loved and cherished, and I'm available on [tumblr](https://ohnomybreadsticks.tumblr.com/) if you ever feel like chatting or reading some of my lil drabbles, I’d love to see you there C:


End file.
